The Angry Penguins

The halcyon days of hippies

2011-04-02T20:07:00.000-07:00

Out of the Square Productions present Songs of Peace and Protest as the Angry Penguins re-live the causes-that-mattered through song and story. From Woody Guthrie's workers rights (Do-Re-Mi), to the early days of the environmental movement (Big Yellow Taxi), the Penguins explore the songs which made a difference.

The protest retrospective follows their popular Fringe show - a Restaurant Like Alice. Whether you sipped bad coffee at the Catacombs on Hackney Road or frequented the Purple Onion in Unley, these songs will take you back to the sweet strains of cafe-style folk to political satire in song.

Matinee performances will take place in cultural and arts centres throughout Adelaide and the Barossa Valley from April 5 to 15.

Bookings:

More on Blaze Foley

2010-06-05T01:00:00.001-07:00

A smoke, a pill and the six o' clock swill - opening night

2010-02-19T05:36:00.000-08:00

Opening night at the Promethean in Grote Street was a packed house, lots of laughs and a generous, warm audience - thank you!

The show started with a forlorn woman sitting at the bar (or piano, in this instance) ordering 'Something Cool' before delivering the male side of things with blokey and raucus renditions of Slim Dusty's 'Duncan' and 'Cigarettes and Whiskey'.

In true Penguin style, A smoke, a pill and the six o' clock swill was a chronology of drug use and abuse starting with the Majestic Hotel in 1950s Adelaide and moving back through time to the cocaine imbibing aristocracy of Victorian England to contemporary themes of homelessness and wrecked lives.

The Penguins explored the drug-addled adventures of Arlo Guthrie (who secreted a reefer by eating it mid flight to avoid getting caught by customs) and paid homage to Easy Rider. They also exposed the caring, sharing nature of cigarette and pharmaceutical companies.

Opening night of A smoke, a pill and the six o clock swill was a journey woven through the ins and the outs; the ups and the downs and the masculine and feminine side of drug taking.

There are still some tickets left to some of the shows, so tell all your friends.

Here is our song list to whet your appetite:

• Something Cool (Billy Barnes, Sung by June Christie)

• Mother’s little helper (The Rolling Stones)

• I Drink (Mary Gauthier)

• Cocaine (JJ Cale)

• Needle and the Damage Done (Neil Young)

• John Law Burned down the liquor store (Tommy Johnson)

• Simple Man (Steve Earle)

• Meeting Across the River (Bruce Springsteen)

• Alabama Song (sung by Jim Morrison and Marianne Faithful, written by Kurt Weill)

• Cigarettes and Whiskey (Vernon ‘Tim’ Spencer)

• Drunken Angel (Lucinda Williams)

• Sunday Morning Coming Down (Kris Kristofferson)

• Shaking Hands ( arr. Michelle Shocked)

• Don’t Bogart that Joint (Elliot Ingber/Larry Wagner, Sung by Fraternity of Man)

• White Rabbit (Jefferson Airplane)

• Nips are getting bigger (Mental as anything)

• Love is the Drug (Bryan Ferry)

Virginia Slim

(on behalf of the Angry Penguins - Kent, Gasper, Buddah Sticks and Coolibah)

Happy 40th Birthday Easy Rider - Don't bogart that joint - Fraternity of Man

2010-01-26T16:46:00.000-08:00

Fringe tickets on sale

2010-01-08T16:44:00.000-08:00

Do you remember the six o’clock swill? How about when your doctor prescribed a packet of fags for your nerves? What were the drugs of choice for Queen Victoria, Sigmund Freud and Sherlock Holmes?

Take a trip with the Penguins from prohibition to the psychedelic era and nurture your neurosis with the soothing health benefits of a cup of coffee, a reefer, a Bex, a cigarette, a martini and a good lie down.

Nothing is sacred as the Penguins examine the marketing ploys and exploits of pharmaceutical and cigarette companies and ponder the real content of Schapelle Corby’s boogie board.

The Penguins perform in their own style the notable psychedelic classics of Jefferson Airplane and the Rolling Stones as well as some of the beautiful and haunting songs of loss and redemption of the likes of Neil Young, Kris Kristofferson, Mary Gautier and Lucinda Williams.

Virginia Slim, Penguin spokesperson, vocalist and pianist, said ‘we are really pleased to be able to remind audiences of gems such as the Kent Micronite asbestos filter, which was marketed as an innovation in smoker health.’

Ms Slim is joined by Mark Gasper (vocals, guitar), Chris Coolabah (Guitar and slide), John Kent (vocals, bass), and Buddha Sticks (Drums and Trombone)

A smoke, a pill and the six o’clock swill reminds audiences of the days when the Coolabah Cask and the drunks track home were the Friday night rituals of Australian suburban life.

Tickets now on sale!

Cocaine - a Victorian mother's little helper

2009-12-11T02:23:00.000-08:00

As Queen Victoria had nine kiddies, it's no wonder she resorted to cocaine wine and gum to get through her day. Her whacky contemporary, Sigmund Freud, prescribed coke as a treatment for postnatal depression If she lived in Australia in the 50s and 60s, she would have rolled up a pound note and had a line of Bex and a good lie down.

The Victorian era - despite its reputation for prudishness and repression - saw the burgeoning of not only alcohol use, but prescription drugs which are now vilified and criminalised. Heroin and laudanum (an opium derivative) were widely prescribed and became staples of the Victorian medicine kit. Heroin (marketed and distributed by Bayer) was prescribed to women for period pain and depression as a 'non-addictive' alternative to morphine. Cocaine was used as a treatment for morphine addiction.

Industrialisation (which helped distribution) and greater family income, meant these drugs were much more easily obtainable.

Cocaine found its way into cold tonics, toothpaste, cigarettes (thank you tobacco companies) and nasal sprays.

Cocaine was also to be found in alcoholic drinks - notably Mariani Wine. This wine was enjoyed by Her Maj (and the Pope). However, when when she entertained a young Winston Churchill (as internet legend would have it) they chose to chew cocaine gum to soothe their ailments.

Another famous person who used cocaine was Sigmund Freud. He described the drug as providing 'lasting euphoria', an increase in 'self-control and vitality' and the ability to work for long periods of time without fatigue.

In literature, the bohemian Sherlock Holmes injected the substance with a syringe kept in a leather case.

Before too long, it became associated with prostitutes, pimps and ne'r-do-wells and it lost its respectability eventually becoming outlawed in the United States in 1914. All good things eventually come to an end - or perhaps it was recognised for the poison it really was.

Despite the good press given by the likes of Siggie Freud, coke (and its various offspring) is a nasty substance leading to a range of health, financial and social problems. Some of the health problems cited include headaches, violence, heart attack, convulsions, psychosis, nosebleeds and so forth.

--- --- --- --- --- ---

Sources used:

Child and youth health
South Australian Drug and alcohol services, 2006
Harding, Oliver and Jockic, 2000
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocaine
http://www.a1b2c3.com/drugs/coc02.htm
http://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/webprojects2001/straughan/3.htm

The Penguins at Cafe Komodo

2009-12-02T22:11:00.000-08:00

Just a reminder that the Penguins will play at the gorgeous Cafe Komodo at 118 Prospect Road on Sunday December 13 at 2.00pm. We will preview songs from our upcoming 2010 Fringe Show:

Also, many thanks to Jill Bromley - one of the original owners of the Catacombs - for responding to an earlier blog post. Please add to the discussion about the Cafe Scene in 1960s Adelaide.

Blaze Foley - the original drunken angel

2009-11-23T18:35:00.000-08:00

In selecting our songs, the Angry Penguins were very taken with Lucinda Williams' beautiful song Drunken Angel (from Car Wheels on a Gravel Road, 1998).

The song is about Blaze Foley - a hitherto obscure Texan songwriter and activist who was reportedly born in a treehouse and spent a great deal of his life homeless. Blaze (whose real name was Michael David Fuller) was known for his fascination with duct tape and his generous philanthropy. Although he was reputedly homeless for a good deal of time, he donated the proceeds of his one and only accessible album to a homeless shelter.

In 1989, at the age of 39, Blaze was shot protecting a feeble, elderly man. Unfortunately, after his death, the album proceeds went towards covering funeral costs. All along the way, Blaze seemed to be plagued by bankrupt record companies and rip offs.

His work has been covered by Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard and John Prine. His two most noted songs are 'If only I could fly' and 'Clay pigeons'.

It must be said, sources around the life and times of Blaze Foley are scant and there seems to have been made numerous starts on documentaries about his life. Casey Monahan provides one particularly useful account of the life and times of Blaze.

Blaze Foley was really two people. There was the caring, loving altruist, then there was the ornery, drinking poet. The former killed him, the latter was always killing him (Monahan, 1998)

However, Lucinda Williams words are perhaps the most evocative:

You're some kind of saviour singing the blues
A derelict in your duct tape shoes
Your orphan clothes and your long dark hair
Looking like you didn't care, drunken angel

Blood spilled out from the hole in your heart
Over the strings of your guitar
The worn out places in the wood
The ones that made you feel so good, drunken angel

(The drawing of Blaze is by C.P. Vaughn, 1988)

Fringe show diary dates

2009-11-19T21:39:00.000-08:00

Fags: A sexy, soothing antidote to nervous tension, irritability and depression...

2009-11-09T20:14:00.000-08:00

From http://wellmedicated.com/lists/40-gorgeous-vintage-tobacco-advertisements/

A researcher by the name of Penny Tinkler, in her book Smoke signals: Women, smoking and visual culture provides the following observations:

The feminisation of cigarettes began in the 1920s and by the 1930s they were available in Woolworths stores in Britain.
Cigarette companies introduced coupons which the housewife could exchange for pullovers, a thermos, cameras and the like
Woodbine had painting books for children and the famous Woodbine Model Farm
Wills bought advertising space on behalf of the Boy Scouts' Association ('Courtesy Capstan Cigarettes)
Older women were able to smoke cigarettes because of their sexual 'availability' but eventually it was OK for young women to be sexy too.

Tinkler explains how cigarettes were used to quell a sad marriage or keep women company when they moved out of home for the first time. She says (and I quote)

The cigarette provides a soothing antidote to nervous tension, irritability, depression, boredom and worry...the same effect as the asprin.

Kent satisfies best

2009-11-04T22:08:00.000-08:00

Ahhhh the good old days. In 1952, cigarette companies really cared about your health. Kent introduced the 'micronite' filter which claimed to 'offer the greatest health protection in cigarette history'. This state-of-the art asbestos filter was a feature of the cigarette for four years.

Cough...cough...

A smoke, a pill and the Six O' Clock Swill

2009-11-04T21:24:00.000-08:00

Who'd have thought the clean-cut and socially conscious Penguins would do drugs?

Indeed, we do - from prohibition to the psychedelic and psychotropic to haunting tales of loss and redemption.

Come and sneak a peak at our some of our 2010 Adelaide Fringe line-up and also hear all of the old Restaurant like Alice favs.

Remember what it was like to light up a fag, take a Bex and have a good lie down? Relive your drug-taking days.

Live at the ED

Sunday, November 22

233 Currie Street, Adelaide at 3.00pm

A Steal at $10.00

Asking Alice when she's 10 feet tall

2009-09-12T23:28:00.000-07:00

A restaurant like Alice - set list

2009-04-08T19:00:00.001-07:00

From left to right: Chris, Andrea, John and Mark (photo by S. Agius)

We have quite a community of Penguin fans signed up to this blog - post Fringe '09. On behalf of the boys and I, thanks for joining. We will keep you up-to-date with all the latest Penguin offerings. We have gone to ground to plan our next show, but in the meantime, we will do the odd gig. We are available for parties at special rates to Penguin mates :)

In the meantime, here is our set list (which a number of people have asked us about)

Song to Woody (Bob Dylan)
Do Re Mi (Woody Guthrie)
Sixteen Tons (Merle Travis)
Strange Fruit (Abel Meeropol - sung by Billie Holliday)
When the Curfew Blows (Woody Guthrie)
Bourgeois Blues (Huddie Leadbelly)
We shall not be moved/We shall overcome (Traditional)
Turn, Turn, Turn (Pete Seeger)
Universal Soldier (Buffy St Marie)
Military Madness (Graham Nash)
Eve of Destruction (PF Sloan)
Feel like I'm Fixin to Die Rag (Country Joe McDonald)
Draft Dodger Rag (Phil Ochs)
Signs (The Five Man Electrical Band)
Woodstock (Joni Mitchell)
Okie from Muskogee (Merle Haggard)
Asshole from El Paso (Kinky Friedman)
Tar and Cement (Verdelle Smith)
Big Yellow Taxi (Joni Mitchell)
National Brotherhood Week (Tom Lehrer)
4 Dead in Ohio (Neil Young)
My Back Pages (Bob Dylan)
Creeque Alley (John and Michelle Phillips)
Alice's Restaurant (Arlo Guthrie)

Once again, thanks for coming to our show at the Tin Cat and sharing the spirit of the revolution!
Andrea

From Tin Cat to Catacombs - Alice Opening Night

2009-03-01T11:04:00.001-08:00

Photos by T Agius

2009-02-05T13:03:00.001-08:00

When the writer of Strange Fruit (Jewish school teacher, Abel Meeropol) first heard Billie Holliday sing his song, he wept. The song was about the lynching of two black men - Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith. It was banned from being played in the Southern states of the US. He originally wrote the song as a poem based on a harrowing photograph taken by Lawrence Beitler. The song is a famous anthem of the civil rights movement.

Fringe Guide Launch

2009-01-12T17:44:00.000-08:00

The Penguins explore the radical cafe scene in Adelaide. Photography by Sarah Agius

Only 45 days to go until the start of the Adelaide Fringe Season. Tickets to A restaurant like Alice are $20.00 and can by purchased online from Fringe Tix from January 14.

1968

2009-01-04T21:06:00.000-08:00

From the 1960s onward, the American Civil Rights movement gained momentum but it also gained many martyrs. Malcolm X was assassinated on the first day of National Brotherhood Week in February 1965.

1968 was a critical year. The pavement stones of Paris were used as missiles, and the French state teetered. The Russian repression in Eastern Europe intensified after the ‘Prague Spring’. Che Guevara attempted to import revolution to Bolivia. The Tet offensive in Hue led to the bloodiest battle of the Vietnam War – the Battle of Keh Sanh. Bobby Kennedy was assassinated soon after he announced the US could not possibly win the war. Martin Luther King was shot after his ‘I have been to the mountain top’ speech in Atlanta, Georgia.

New Year's Eve and 60 days to go

2008-12-30T22:21:00.000-08:00

That's 60 days until our first show for the Adelaide Fringe Season at the Tin Cat Cafe on February 28.

Mark, John, Chris and Andrea look forward to seeing you at our retrospective of protest-songs-that-matter during the Adelaide Fringe Season.

In the meantime, we promise you reflections and ruminations via our band blog...read on...

Do re mi

2008-12-30T20:29:00.001-08:00

This Woody Guthrie classic depicts the prejudice facing the dust bowl refugees when they fled to the Californian fruit bowl (or 'sugar bowl') in search of a better life:

Now the police at the port of entry say
You're number fourteen thousand for today....
But if you ain't got the Do re mi, folks
Then you ain't got the Do re mi...
Then you better go back to beautiful Texas
Oklahoma, Kansas, Georgia, Tennessee...
Why, California is the Garden of Eden
A nice place to live in or to see
But believe it or not, you won't find it so hot
If you ain't got the do re me

John Mellencamp - Do Re Mi
Uploaded by jpdc11

Subterranean Adelaide Blues and I'll have a flat white please

2008-12-25T20:46:00.000-08:00

As we quaff down our daily Cibo grande skinny flat whites listening to the gentle dooff-dooff of ambient Euro disco club Mediterranean, do we ever stop to think about the days when there was no real coffee in Adelaide?

We have 1950s Italian immigration to Adelaide to thank for the introduction of the barista and expresso coffee. Thank God for the Tropicano Cafe and Caon brothers', La Cantina in Hindley Street.

Alongside of the burgeoning revolt against the Nescafe instant, grew a radical new culture of the Subterranean Cafe - epitomised by the Catacombs on the corner of North Terrace and Hackney Road. Here you couldn't get an alcoholic drink, but you could get a cheese and asparagus sandwich, snog your girlfriend in a dark corner or hear the protestations of folk musicians. Doubtless it was a percolated coffee a la Melbourne Street's Gingers (which I think, closed in the 1980s). Please feel free to correct me on this.

Stephen Atkinson (Adelaide Review, 2004) cites a 1964 Bulletin article which describes the Catacombs as a 'portal to an underworld which carries with it subversive intrigue [reeking] of the seedier, bohemian side of life'.

The Angry Penguins (apart from playing some of the radical, subversive, music on offer in the sixties) has, perhaps, the last living relic from those Catacombs days in bassist John Kemp who not only ATE cheese and asparagus toasted sandwiches but actually PLAYED his first gig at the Catacombs.

Recently and fortuitously, I stumbled across another living Adelaide 50s cafe relic - Lucias at Adelaide Central Market. While there was not really enough room to swing a guitar neck, the waft of real coffee; the black and white tiled floor; accompanying red and white checked table cloths and (most importantly) strains of Bob Dylan's Blowin' in the Wind were historical respite from the franchised homogeneity of the cardboard cup.

In the 1970s, the baton was passed to other cafe impresarios such as Maggie of Maggie's Tavern in Kent Town. This has since become Claire and David Grahams' Tin Cat Cafe and is, coincidentally, a mere block away from the musty memories of the Catacombs. The Tin Cat also whispers the esscence of the 50s and 60s with its chrome-clad chairs and the omnipresent hiss and whiff of real coffee.

This is where the Angry Penguins will perform their 2009 Fringe Season to awaken the homesick subterranean senses, trading dooff-dooff for Dylan and muzak for Mitchell. Stay tuned!

Andrea Duff-Duff

Who are the Angry Penguins?

2008-01-09T17:00:00.000-08:00

The Angry Penguins is an enigmatic name for an enigmatic little band comprising John Kemp (Bass, Vocals, Harmonica); Mark Gishen (Vocals, acoustic guitar); Chris Kelly (Electric, acoustic and slide) and Andrea Duff (Vocals and keys)

The Angry Penguins is also the name of a revolutionary literary movement in Australia in the 1940s, spearheaded by the writer Max Harris.

Yes - we are a bookish lot - a teacher, microbiologist, doctor and university lecturer. Beyond that, we are a left wing, right reclining, social libertarian, bi-partisan lot, with a social conscience who don't really give a damn about anything, really (some days, anyway!). We have wide ranging musical interests which are folkish, country and bluesish.

This is us, photographed by Diana Quinn at the Tin Cat Cafe where we have set up residence as we approach the forthcoming 2009 season of the Adelaide Fringe.